Embraer E175

Small, compact and everywhere in North America: the Embraer E175 is the bestseller of the E-Jet family, even though it shows up only on the fringes in Europe. In the USA it is the backbone of the regional fleets of United, Delta, American and Alaska; in Europe you see it mainly in the colors of KLM Cityhopper and LOT. For spotters it is a small challenge, because with the E170 and E190 it has two siblings that look confusingly similar. Here you will learn how to recognize the E175, why a pilot contract of all things decides its fate and where you can still get it in front of your lens.

What is the Embraer E175?

The E175 belongs to the E-Jet family, which Embraer officially launched at the 1999 Paris Air Show. The family consists of two pairs: the short E170 and E175 and the long E190 and E195. Technically the E175 is a slightly stretched E170 – Embraer lengthened the fuselage by about 1.8 meters to fit in more seats. In the certification documents it is therefore also called the ERJ 170-200, while the E170 is listed as the ERJ 170-100.

The E175 made its first flight in June 2003 in Brazil. The launch customer was Air Canada, which put the type into scheduled service in July 2005. The E175 is powered by two General Electric CF34-8E engines, the same engine that is in the E170. The larger E190 and E195, by contrast, use the more powerful CF34-10E – a detail that helps you with identification.

Like all E-Jets, the E175 has a fly-by-wire control system, a glass cockpit and a fuselage with a so-called double-bubble cross-section. This allows 2+2 seating without a middle seat and standing headroom in the aisle. Typical is 76 seats in two classes, as is usual in the USA; in an all-economy layout up to 88 passengers fit in. The range is up to about 4,000 kilometers depending on version – more than enough for regional routes in Europe or North America.

Short or long wing: E75S and E75L

A peculiarity of the E175 is its two ICAO type designators: E75S stands for the version with the shorter wingspan (about 26 meters), E75L for the one with the larger wingspan (about 28.65 meters). Visually, the difference at the wingtips stands out most: older aircraft have small, steeply upright winglets, newer ones much larger winglets canted outward. When assigning codes, though, do not rely blindly on the year of manufacture – in tracking data, E75L is predominantly what shows up today.

The background is an efficiency package that Embraer introduced in 2014: the first production E175 with new wingtips, aerodynamic refinements and optimized systems rolled out of the hangar in São José dos Campos in December 2014. According to the manufacturer, fuel consumption on a typical flight drops by 6.4 percent compared with the original E175. The new winglets exist only on the E175 – you do not see them on first-generation E170s, E190s and E195s.

For you as a spotter that is a gift: if you see a short E-Jet with large, outward-tilted winglets, you can practically rule out the E170. With older E175s with small winglets, telling them apart is harder.

Why the E175 is so successful in the USA

To understand the E175 you have to look at the scope clauses. These are clauses in the collective agreements of the pilots of big US airlines. They define which aircraft the regional partners may fly on behalf of the major airline – so that flights cannot be outsourced at will to cheaper subsidiaries or partner companies. In practice a limit of 76 seats and a maximum takeoff weight of 86,000 pounds, or about 39 tonnes, usually applies.

The E175 fits exactly into this grid in a suitably configured version. That is why regional airlines such as SkyWest, Republic Airways and Envoy Air fly large E175 fleets for United Express, Delta Connection, American Eagle and Alaska Airlines. According to the order statistics, SkyWest and Republic are among the largest E-Jet operators in the world. According to the order statistics (as of 2025), over 800 E175s had been delivered and more than 150 more ordered – making it the best-selling member of the family.

The flip side: the E175-E2, the second-generation successor, is heavier than the scope clauses allow. It flew for the first time in 2019, but because the scope clauses have remained unchanged, Embraer paused development. In early 2025 the manufacturer extended the pause by another four years, so the program is dormant until about 2029. Until then Embraer keeps building the first generation – an unusual case in which a predecessor model outlives its successor.

The E-Jet family compared

Within the family the models differ mainly in length. With the dimensions in mind you get much further with identification.

Model	ICAO code	Length	Engine
E170	E170	29.90 m	CF34-8E
E175	E75S / E75L	31.67 m	CF34-8E
E190	E190	36.25 m	CF34-10E
E195	E195	38.66 m	CF34-10E
E195-E2	E295	41.51 m	PW1900G

So the E175 is only 1.8 meters longer than the E170, but about 4.6 meters shorter than the E190. Compared with the E195 and the E195-E2, the difference is visible from afar. If you generally find identifying hard, the guide Identifying aircraft types for beginners will help.

Common mix-ups

Besides its own siblings, there are a few other candidates that resemble the E175:

Mix-up	How to tell them apart
E170	about 1.8 m shorter, always small winglets; type code E170
E190	about 4.6 m longer, larger engines; type code E190
Bombardier CRJ900	rear engines, T-tail, narrower fuselage
Airbus A220-100	wider fuselage with five seats per row, large geared turbofan engines, longer nose

The CRJ900 is the E175’s direct competitor in the USA and often flies there for the same brands. Thanks to the rear engines, though, it is easy to tell apart. Trickier is the A220-100: it is bigger, but from a distance it also looks compact. Then pay attention to the size of the engines and the cockpit window design.

Where you see the E175 in Europe

The E175 is much rarer in Europe than in North America. Two airlines shape the picture, and both have started saying goodbye to the type:

• KLM Cityhopper is the most important European E175 operator. The regional subsidiary of KLM flies E175s, E190s and E195-E2s from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and serves numerous German airports from there. According to the trade press, KLM Cityhopper wants to replace the E175 and E190 gradually with the E195-E2.
• LOT Polish Airlines flies the E175 alongside the E170, E190, E195 and E195-E2 from Warsaw Chopin Airport. In 2025 LOT announced an order for the Airbus A220, with deliveries beginning in 2027 and replacing the Embraer fleet; the first E175s have reportedly already left the fleet.

Because both airlines offer connections to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, you can also catch the E175 at airports like Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt or Munich. Which type flies a particular connection often changes, though – sometimes an E190 or E195-E2 shows up instead of the E175. So never plan firmly around one rotation, but check the tracker on spotting day. How to do that best is covered in the guide to flight tracking with ADS-B.

Outside Europe the E175 is hard to miss: in the USA it is at home at practically every major hub, and in Canada it flies for Air Canada Express. If you are planning a trip to North America, you can collect the E175 there in many different liveries.

Spotting tips for the E175

The E175 is one of the smallest jets you see at big airports. That changes focal length, location and timing.

• Plan for more focal length. At the same distance, a regional jet of this size fills the frame much less than a Boeing 737-800 or an Airbus A320neo. The article Choosing a lens for plane spotting explains which focal length makes sense.
• Get the winglets in the frame. Because the wingtips are the best feature against the E170, shots from the front quarter or in a flyover are worthwhile.
• Check the runway direction in use. Regional jets do not always land and take off on the same runway as the big aircraft. With Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport you find the right spot.
• Plan the light. The blue-and-white KLM colors and the LOT livery look best in side light. How to calculate the sun position beforehand is covered in the guide to the sun position.

A spot where you are guaranteed to see KLM Cityhopper in large numbers is the spotter place at the Polderbaan in Schiphol – provided the Polderbaan is in use. In Germany, good options include the observation deck at Düsseldorf Airport or the observation deck at Hamburg Airport, where regional jets from Amsterdam and Warsaw arrive regularly.

Variants of the E175

Within the first generation there are several versions that barely differ on the outside:

• E175 STD: the base version.
• E175 LR: higher maximum takeoff weight and thus more range.
• E175 SU and SC: versions tailored to the US scope clauses with limited seat counts of 76 and 70 respectively.

For you as a spotter these variants hardly matter, since you cannot see them from the outside. More interesting is the difference between short and long wing, which you recognize by the winglets. Finally, the E175-E2 exists only as a prototype and test aircraft – because of the program pause you will not see it in airline colors for now.

Conclusion

The Embraer E175 is a prime example of how strongly rules and contracts shape the aircraft market. In the USA, thanks to the scope clauses, it is a mass-market model and continues to be built, while its successor is on ice. In Europe, by contrast, it is a phase-out model: KLM Cityhopper is betting on the E195-E2, LOT on the Airbus A220. If you want to collect the E175 in European colors, you had better not wait too long.